Brave 273--Nigeria's Kidnapped Girls

Follow: #BringBackOurGirls

The Inner Constellation theme for the month of May is Dreamtime. What inspired the theme was a morning this past April, with a rare but familiar feeling I've learned to call "holy dark." I've woken with holy dark prior to the deaths of loved ones, a few days before 9-11, the Tsunami in Asia....I've learned to honor it, thank it and pay close attention. Not shortly after, news of the 273 girls kidnapped in Nigeria reached me. Hmmm. I picked up my drum, sang some songs and began my prayers. Of course, prayers for me also include writing. Please maintain hope when you read this poem, for the brave 273 are free....

273
©Karla Johnston April, 2014 InnerConstellation.com

Girls, abducted from their Nigerian boarding school,

pulled from sleep into a nightmare.
Where do I possibly go from here?
Unconscionable…
as if one simple word can describe the captors’ actions,
but it cannot.

I try to understand:
Boko Haram, terrorist group whose name translates as,
“Western education is sin.”
Unfathomable.
The way I manage calamity is to pick up forbidden pen,
my saving grace, and write!

Words, my lifeblood, pulse and flow
through me, no different from these 273.
Edified, their story–in outlawed print—goes viral,
spreads all over the world:
Twitter, Facebook, news feeds,
prohibited letters flying.

Here’s something me
and the 273 do understand—
written words have power,
power to transform
all tragic stories.

These beloved 273
are
free,
free,
free. 

*please join the Malala fund in supporting and following the 273.